A Greek court has decided to exonerate four police officers involved in the brutal death of LGBTQ+ activist Zak Kostopoulos in Athens, The Guardian reports.
This decision has alarmed human rights groups, which deplored the verdict as profoundly unjust.
“Today’s decision is yet another example in Greece where victims of unnecessary use of force and their families are left without justice,” Amnesty International’s Greek branch director, Glykeria Arapi, said to The Guardian.
Anny Paparousou, a lawyer representing Kostopoulos’ family, said the ruling reflected a longstanding culture of police impunity in Greece.
“It follows in the tradition of police violence never being punished even by our courts,” she told the media outlets.
Two men were found guilty on Tuesday of causing fatal bodily harm to Kostopoulos and were each given a 10-year jail sentence, the maximum foreseen penalty for the crime.
One of the men, 77-year-old jewellery shop owner, Spyros Dimopoulos, will be allowed to serve the sentence at home due to his advanced age, while 59-year-old real estate agent, Thanassis Hortarias, is expected to be transferred to a detention facility.
The killing of Kostopoulos generated widespread outcry in Greece in September 2021.
The drag artist, columnist and prominent queer campaigner was killed after appearing to seek refuge from unknown assailants in a jewellery ship in central Athens that year.
Footage from security cameras and phones showed police violently attempting to arrest Kostopoulos as he lay dying on the ground. The 33-year-old died from his injuries before emergency workers could take him to hospital.
Source: The Guardian and Ekathimerini.
